Glossary · Crypto
Bitcoin halving
A bitcoin halving is when the reward for mining a block is cut in half, every 210,000 blocks (about four years), slowing the creation of new bitcoins.
Also called: halving, halvening, block reward halving
At block 1,050,000, 74,502 blocks away: the reward drops from 3.125 to 1.5625 BTC a block.
Average of the last 30 days, worth about $35.9M a day.
November 11, 2026.
In plain words
Imagine a gold mine where, by law, the amount you may dig out each day is cut in half every four years. That is how new bitcoins arrive. Miners who add a block to the blockchain are paid in brand-new coins, and every 210,000 blocks that payment halves. The event is called the halving.
In 2009 each block paid 50 bitcoins. Halvings in 2012, 2016, 2020 and 2024 cut it to 25, then 12.5, 6.25 and 3.125. Today’s reward is 3.125 bitcoins a block; at about 144 blocks a day that makes roughly 450 new bitcoins a day.
The schedule is written into bitcoin’s code and known decades ahead. The next halving comes at block 1,050,000, which at the pace of the last year falls around April 2028.
Example
A miner’s pay after a halving
- Before April 2024: 6.25 BTC a block × 144 blocks a day = 900 new bitcoins a day, shared by all miners.
- After: 3.125 × 144 = 450 a day. Every miner’s income from new coins halved overnight, while the electricity bills stayed the same.
- Over the last 30 days the network actually created 452 a day (blocks come a little faster or slower than 144 a day), worth about $35.9M a day at the latest price.
- After the next halving, expected around April 2028: about 225 a day.
Miners with the dearest electricity often switch off after a halving; the puzzle then gets easier, so blocks keep coming about every 10 minutes.
One level deeper
Why halve? Satoshi Nakamoto wanted a fixed total, like a metal that gets mined out, instead of money that a central bank can create at will. Halving every 210,000 blocks makes the sum of all rewards converge: 210,000 × (50 + 25 + 12.5 + …) comes to just under 21 million. 95.8% of that had been mined by November 11, 2026. The last fraction of a coin is expected around the year 2140.
Halvings shift miners’ income toward transaction fees. For now fees are a small part of it: 0.6% over the last 30 days. Whether fees can pay for the network’s security once new coins dwindle is one of bitcoin’s open questions.
Each halving so far was followed by a new record price within a year, but four cases are far too few to call that a law, and because the dates are known years ahead, markets can anticipate them. In 2024 a record had already come a month before the halving.
New bitcoins a day since 2009
The steps are the halvings: about 7,200 new coins a day before November 2012 (50 × 144), then half as many after each halving. In 2010 the line overshoots because blocks came far faster than one every 10 minutes.
The numbers behind the chart
| Date | New bitcoins a day |
|---|---|
| Jan 2009 | 5,539 |
| Dec 2010 | 9,045 |
| Dec 2020 | 910 |
| Dec 2022 | 890 |
| Dec 2023 | 927 |
| Dec 2024 | 461 |
| Dec 2025 | 444 |
| Nov 2026 | 412 |
Why it matters
It is bitcoin’s monetary policy, fixed in code: the opposite of central banks, which can expand the money supply when they choose.
Each halving cuts miners’ income from new coins in half overnight, testing which miners survive and how secure the network stays.
Scheduled supply cuts are rare in markets, so investors watch the dates closely.
A common mistake
Myth: A halving makes bitcoin’s price go up.
In fact: A halving only slows how fast new coins appear; demand decides the price. Past halvings were followed by rises and later by falls of 70% or more, and four cases are too few to call it a rule. The dates are public years ahead, so markets can price them in.
Questions people ask
When is the next bitcoin halving?
At block 1,050,000. At the pace of the last year that is around April 2028, 74,502 blocks from now. The exact day depends on how fast blocks come.
When was the last halving?
On April 20, 2024, at block 840,000, when the reward fell from 6.25 to 3.125 bitcoins a block. The first three were on November 28, 2012, July 9, 2016 and May 11, 2020.
What happens when all bitcoins are mined?
Around 2140 the new-coin reward reaches zero, and miners will be paid only by transaction fees. Nothing else changes: the coins keep circulating.
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About the numbers
- The numbers on this page are recalculated from the data every night; the sources are listed at the end of the page.
- Bitcoin blocks per day: Coin Metrics Community Network Data, metric BlkCnt. License: CC BY-NC 4.0.
- Bitcoin transaction fees per day: Coin Metrics Community Network Data, metric FeeTotNtv. License: CC BY-NC 4.0.
- New bitcoins per day: Coin Metrics Community Network Data, metric IssTotNtv. License: CC BY-NC 4.0.
- Bitcoin supply: Coin Metrics Community Network Data, metric SplyCur. License: CC BY-NC 4.0.
- Bitcoin price: Coin Metrics Community Network Data, metric PriceUSD. License: CC BY-NC 4.0.
- The next halving’s date is an estimate: the blocks still to come at the average pace of the last 365 days.
- Crypto data: Coin Metrics Community Network Data, used under the CC BY-NC 4.0 license.
- This page explains a term. It is not investment advice.